05 Nov Genius or Madman

JUAN SAYS: He is not your typical diplomat, we have all known this from the start. His ways are unconventional, barbaric to a point. But anyone who has lived in Davao or heard about Davao have come to terms with this foul mouthed mayor who gave the city a semblance of peace and order, during the time when Davao was known to be a no man’s land. Before elections, we have known what he is and what he stands for. He is a womanizer, a perceived “killer” of drug pushers, the man with an iron fist who drives a taxi late at night in his lowly city just because. He is different. He is way different from what we know Presidents ought to be. And 7million Filipinos gave him their trust. Today, he is continuing his unconventional ways, seemingly not caring how this would affect the country as a whole. He continues to be a PR nightmare, speaking to the press without briefing his staff, thereby letting his staff run after his heels to explain, exhaustively if you will, what he actually meant when he said: Putang ina…!

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If you look at it closely, Duterte is the man that we would all love to hate. He is an open target for criticisms and if you psycho analyze his personality, he is the type that would NEVER listen to anyone. He has a plan in his head. He has a strategy in his head. The problem is, it is in his head, and nobody knows about it.

When declared our “emancipation” from the US, breaking economic and military ties, none from the Presidential staff knew that he would do just that. Our immediate reflexes tell us that we indeed have a crazy President. Someone who doesn’t know the value of an alliance with the US because, in our heads, the US have helped us in many ways. But if you do take a step back and see the history of the partnership of US and the Philippines, can we really pin point what the American government, through the years, did for the Philippines? Joint military exercises? Old military artillery? Protection from possible invasion from China? These are all what we see, but what we fail to ask is, has the Philippines benefit from this in reality?

A separation from US is, truth be told, beneficial for the country. We are no longer tied in with their policies, no longer in debated to that country who put us in debt in the first place. What we are doing is actually standing up for what is better for the Philippines and at this point, the Philippines would rather form alliances and partnerships with powers that will provide mutual benefits for them and us. Our alliance with the US is, to a point, one sided. They sell us goods (yeah, let’s call it goods instead of military artillery) that they themselves do not manufacture. If you take it from a business standpoint, the US is the middle man. So why can’t we as a country get our “goods” from the manufacturers? Cutting the red tape and cutting out what we pay for the middle man.

It is also a fact that US economy is not doing very well. In fact the US today has more debt than any country we know. Common sense tells us that siding with them is not exactly a very wise decision. Malubog pa tayo sa utang kasama nila. We forge partnerships with allies with neighbouring countries, those with strong economies who can help us in times of need. Sadly today, the strongest economy is that of China.

It was strategic, if you would ask us, when Duterte announce this “severance” of sorts with the US in China, a country which the US considers as an enemy. Duterte went to China for one thing, and we believe it was money for the country. With his speech don’t you think that the Chinese government may have doubled or tripled their investments to the country after hearing those “harsh” words from our President? We wouldn’t be surprised if all of Duterte’s projects will be funded by the Chinese, and we at JUAN do not think that there is anything wrong with that. Our country needs money, Duterte is “prostituting” himself to the right gentlemen who would give us the aid and support we need for this country to be great again.

After China, our President went to Japan. If we are really tight with China, why would Duterte take time to visit Japan, a known nemesis of China? Japan is a know ally of the US, and if we are allies with Japan, then we know we are still secured with the US just in case the tables turn again. Knowing what we think happened in China, would it also be possible that Japan has given more money/aid than what China has given? Your guess is as good as ours.

We can only guess what Duterte feels about the EU, the ICC, the UN and the US and all their efforts to meddle in our country’s affairs and calling out extra judicial killings as his only recourse with his war on drugs. Surely they have the gall to lecture Duterte on human rights violation when millions of refugees were displaced from their countries due to the wars initiated by the US and its allies in the UN and Europe. It is indeed the pot calling the kettle black.

There too are several internal reasons why Duterte wants the US out. US Imperialism is a threat to the peace process with the NPA, the MILF, and the MNLF. You can point guns at them while they sign their peace treaties. Besides, they too are Filipinos no matter what ideology they take. And for us to achieve solidarity and unity, let us begin internally.

His ways are indeed unpopular, nothing that you would imagine a world leader to be. But his intentions are clear, and no matter what we say, how he does things would always elicit raised eyebrows and criticisms from well, those who are more knowledgeable with world issues. Sige kayo na!Kayo na ang magaling sa world politics and economy. Duterte is not out there to please us. That is not his job. His KPI is to bring results, no matter what it takes. We may like it or not. We may agree or we may not. But honestly, that is the least of his worries. Your opinions of him is not his problem.